FACELIFT POST-OP: The 3 Month Mark and the Perfect Facecloth.

PREVIOUS POSTS: WEEKS 1 AND 2, WEEK 3, WEEK 4, ONE MONTH FOLLOW UP, WEEK 7, WEEK 8 , 2 MONTHS, WEEKS 10-11, WEEK 12, 3 MONTHS, WEEK 14

It’s been three months since my face/necklift with fat transfer. Though I’m really happy with my appearance, I still have very little sensation skin area around my ears, temples and upper neck. The obvious reason is all the nerves were cut when my surgeon performed the lift. Every surgery website and most surgeons will assure you that you can return to normal activities a couple weeks following surgery. I’m writing this weekly diary to let you know that everyone does heal differently. Sometimes far more slowly that what the optimistic websites promise.

My skin is still so, so tender, and tingly and painful behind the ears, near my jawline and on the perimeters of my face that I’ve found it really difficult to clean my skin. So much so that dead cells are causing problems. I’ve found it extremely uncomfortable to use a washcloth or even soap and water alone on the areas I can’t feel. Some of the areas, behind my ears particularly, are somewhat painful.

So I went on a quest for a super soft facecloth. I found one, but also found another helpful product that can get you through these difficult weeks when your skin is uber sensitive to the point touching it is, as they used to say in the 80s, “gross”.

Kind of funny what turned up when I Googled “super soft washcloth”. The usual suspects, Amazon and Walmart, had lots of offerings (mostly generic cloths, nothing special). A couple boutique sites offered “exfoliating” cloths…um, not what I’m looking for here. (Ouch!). The sites offering the softest washcloths were targeted toward, how shall I say, not your face.

The frontrunner turned out to be the soft facial washcloths from UK-based fabulous store called The Body Shop. The Body Shop used to have physical stores, and I remember they used to have a tincture “bar” in which you selected an oil and they added it to basic lotion. My favorite was lilac. I shared an office with another person, and she loved it, too. So did every other person in the office! We lived in Portland, Maine at the time and summers were oh, so short. Any floral fragrance was welcome. My lotion never lasted very long. Anyway, it brought back fond memories to shop on their site and see that many of their best products were still available! In fact, there was a sale running on their amazing body butters. It’s been years since I treated myself (always relied on birthdays, etc.) so decided to get a couple, to score free shipping with my facecloths.

The package arrived about three days after I placed the order. Wow! Unfortunately, I had gone blueberry picking and had gotten stung by a bee. I had been wearing capris, and the poor bee was exploring and clearly got caught. Bees love sweat, and normally I don’t mind them walking around gathering salt (or whatever). But I didn’t recognize the tickle of her feet, and smacked her right into my leg. OUCH! What a sting. I’m slightly allergic, and my leg, over a few hours, swelled into a painful mess. It became so bad that I’d taken out crutches that I’d stored after an old ankle sprain. Needless to say, I was in a pretty rotten mood.

My first surprise was that someone at The Body Shop had generously packed TWO of the facial washcloths. At $6.50 each, this was a welcome surprise. Each comes individually wrapped, which seems like a lot of excess plastic, but it does help assure freshness. After all, had used the cloth earlier post-surgery, there would have still been fairly open wounds in the scarred and stitched areas.

I decided to open the Body Butters. I’d been in the sun for hours that day, and my skin was definitely feeling dried out. I used to get the coconut oil one years ago, when I lived in Maine and was desperate for any fragrance that indicated warmth. Living in Florida now I tend to stay away from tropical fragrances, so ordered the Hemp and Wild Argan Oil varieties. Ahhhhh! How else can I describe the soft, luxurious feeling of the butters. The fragrances had a welcome aromatherapy effect. Hemp was light and earthy, and the Wild Argan Oil was sweet, surprisingly rainy-day summer garden fragrance. The Body Butters came in a 6.75 oz. container, and as you don’t need much to get an effective moisturizing treatment, the supply will last quite a while!

I applied the Hemp Body Butter gingerly with my fingertips to the areas around my face, neck and ears that are still tender, tingly and sore. This was wonderful for both my morale and skin. I was able to manipulate the Butters (they are not liquid, but not too firm, either) easily around my sore ears, temples and jawline. What a wonderful relief. I’ve been really worried about the health and condition of these still numb and sore areas. I think it’s incredibly important to treat them as baby skin. Even though it was your own skin, lifted and then stapled and stitched back on, it needs extra special care. I’m so happy I indulged in these body butters. The texture is just perfect for what we go through after facial surgery.

I massaged the Argan Oil Body Butter into my arms, shoulders and upper back. It was like a skin and aromatherapy treatment rolled into one. I even used some on my bee-stung leg, which was elevated on a step stool next to my desk. The body butter didn’t cure the sting, but its soothing moisture and light fragrance made me feel a little better.

Later, I staggered on my crutches to the bathroom sink and broke open one of the facecloths. My first impression was that the cloth was sort of “rubbery”, not like cloth but more like a light silicone. It was damp when I opened it. Using warm water and moisturizing soap, I lathered my hands and applied soap to my face. The facial cloth wasn’t absorbent, and seemed to be simply moving the soap and water around. But when I looked at the cloth, there was evidence of dirt and oil. Happily, the cloth rinsed completely clean. Because the cloth is super light and has no rough “nubs” like a cotton cloth, I felt confident enough to use it behind my ears (the most tender area) and along my jaw. I was relieved to find a cloth-like cleansing tool to use on my tender, post-surgery skin. The part I had feared — scrubbing — ended up more like a gentle massage. Success! Weirdly, it dries like a piece of dried nori, but softens back up as soon as its placed in water. I now use the cloth morning and night as my skin continues to heal. And if the first one doesn’t hold up more than a month or two, I have a spare.